Sorry, this is a really old page that is going to be rewritten. Thank you for your patience!Improving Your Photography: Portraits
by Patrick Young
Created: May 2, 2004
Last Edited: September 20, 2004
Carrie on the Beach Canon EOS 3 |
This the first in a series of articles about practical ways you can improve your photography. There is an assumption that readers are a step above beginners and have a reasonable grasp of fundamental photographic knowledge.
I wrote this article several months ago rather quickly based on the few things I had learned and tried. Since then I've gained a great deal more knowledge and practical experience and I've updated the article accordingly.
Introduction
The majority of pictures people take are of other people. We do it all the time--at special gatherings or just snapshots here and there of everyday life. The pictures we take of others often are the ones we cherish the most because they remind us of our past--of family and friends, a special day, or those no longer with us. They are often the most powerful images we see.
Taking people of pictures can be quite challenging. But there are a lot of simple, practical techniques you can apply to improve your people pictures which we will look at. Portrait photography doesn't mean just people, you can apply these same techniques to take pictures of animals, flowers or any subject for that matter.
This article assumes you have some novice photographic knowledge. If you are just getting started, then you should probably review the Tutorial as well as the Quick Tips articles first before proceeding. This is a basic guide on how to improve your portrait photography skills. It is rather rigid but the point of doing that is to practice common established (and honestly boring) techniques to get started, gain experience and build a foundation to work with; from there you're on your own to build on or discard them as you wish.
So What Is A Good Portrait Picture?
If you don't know what a good portrait is, then you're going to have a hard time taking one. Like all other things in photography, what defines a good portrait picture is pretty open-e ned. It is art after all--beauty in the eye of the beholder. But here are some good general guidelines to muse over:
- The subject is clearly the primary focus of the image.
- The background complements rather than distracts from the primary subject.
- Skin blemishes, wrinkles, lines, etc are either reduced, eliminated or complement the subject.
- Shadows are precisely controlled and effectively used to complement the subject.
- Natural poses
The subject takes up most of the image area and/or is clearly the primary focus
In all the images, it is obvious what the primary subject. The easiest way to do that is to make the subject the most dominate object in your picture; and of course the easiest way to do that is to make your subject the largest object. If you have multiple major elements in your photograph, these elements compete for attention from the viewer and it becomes unclear what the subject of the image is.
At this point you might be thinking, well that sounds right but there are several sample images that have multiple people in them which seems contradictory. Not really. In context, there maybe two or more people, but they are really a single subject. In each there is a clear relationship between the people. These images are about their relationship and as such while there are multiple people, they is only a single element.
The background complements rather than distracts from the primary subject
The background element should always play a support role for your image, either in terms of providing context or simply be so benign as to simply play no role. The worst thing you could do is have a background element which contends for attention.
What is background? Basically all the elements that surround your subject matter. Ideally you would like a complementary background, one which puts your subject in context. A bride and a groom might be dressed the part, but a good background enhances and reinforces their roles and the context of your image.
You should take time to carefully examine your backgrounds. I've found that for outdoor shoots, knowledge of landscape photography techniques is extremely useful. Always bear in mind that while we live in three-dimensional world, our photographs exists in only two and thus we much alter the way we perceive things to be effective photographers. Things that our mind dismiss because they are background noise to us can easily (and readily) become distractions in our photos. The common example of course is the bunny-ears-over-the-head prank we all know and love--well it works because in the two-dimension world those two fingers really do look like they are growing out of the person's head.
Look for things. Examine background color--clear your mind of what you "see" and try to visualize the generalization of colors. For example on a beach scene, forget in your minded all the details you see, look the beach as simple colors...tan or light brown. Look at the shapes if you see any. All these things add up and the better you are to visualize this, the better your photos will be.
One very useful technique is to blur the background by limiting the depth-of-field. If you examine many of the examples above, the backgrounds have definition but often are somewhat blurry or non-sharp as compared to the subject. This is one of the ways our eyes perceive depth, and the using this technique benefits us in two ways--first the subject becomes even less of a distraction and the primacy of our subject is reinforced because our eyes understand and translate the sharp object as being the focus.
Depth of field is a property of lenses and positioning; we'll discuss in detail a little later.
Dealing with Imperfections
Make-up exists for a reason. Working with a subject you have to think about how you want to deal with small blemishes, marks, wrinkles and the like. There are occasions you may want to use these as a point of emphasis--but more often than not you want to want them to go away. You can do this with good positioning, controlled or directed lighting and of course make-up.
Wrinkles and unsmooth skin appear are a characteristic of shadows generated by the uneven skin. The harsher the shadows (caused by hard direct light such as midday sunlight) the more noticeable your blemishes become. You can deal with this several ways. First step is see if you can position your subject such that shadow falloff is minimized. Try to diffuse your light source--if it's the sun consider shooting on an overcast day or perhaps just take your pictures in the shade. Flash is great for this purpose; controlled properly you can greatly reduce shadow contrast--even make all those bad shadows disappear.
Blemishes such a skin discolorations can be dealt with by selecting the correct film to use. A good choice for taking photographs of people is to choose low contrast, low saturation films. A lot of films these days say "vivid" or "extra-color"--we are naturally attracted to more contrasty, colorful images. These films aren't the best choice because skin discolorations will be more exaggerated by the extra contrast. Look for films that say "natural color" or "accurate color".
Print films are great for this purpose. If you are using a digital camera, you are really dependent upon how your camera records your image. But a good idea is to have your camera set to record images in natural color--turn off any extra saturation settings you may have enabled. Of course the great benefit (and perhaps greatly overlooked) of digital images is the ability to work on your images on the computer with an imaging application like Photoshop.
Of course the greatest equalizer of all is make-up. If your subject is female, she will probably will do her own makeup. Good luck trying to get your male models to put some on :)
Controlling Shadows
This was mentioned before, harsh shadows are not usually in the best interests of your photographs. We know already that harsh shadows cause accentuation of wrinkles and skin imperfections, but they can affect the overall composition of your photograph by introducing distracting high contrast elements. We've all seen this before in our own pictures--I always think of pictures of somebody standing next to a tree and the branches above cast a maze of dark harsh shadows all over my friend's face.
Controlling shadows is critical to a good picture. It is an essential part of compositional planning. You need to be able to direct your shadows, control their intensity and contrast. You can do this using good positioning and good lighting (using natural light, flash, or both).
Controlling Proportionality and Perspective
Sometimes you want to exaggerate perspective and proportion to emphasize certain things, but most of the time you probably want to take pictures that flatter your subject. That means making your subject appear proportionally correct or more appealing. Again good positioning and a good pose can do wonders. Again good shadow control can help to"draw" your subject by emphasizing form. Proper lens choice--using telephoto lenses for example, collapses or flattens perspective, can make things like noses appear smaller.
Looking Natural
No matter how much effort you put into composing your picture, if your subject looks tense, uneasy, unhappy or just plain bored--your pictures will fail. Even if you pose your subject, they have to be at ease or your pictures will look contrived. There is no prefabricated road to success here, this is about how you manage and interact with your subjects, how you handle them and how well you work with them. Building a good working relationship with your subjects is a good way to get good results.
Other Interesting Things to Consider
- Don't forget about the Rule of Thirds or the Golden rule. Plopping your subject smack dab in the middle of your picture doesn't usually create the most compelling images.
Understanding by Example
If you are anything like me, then your probably only retained about 5% of what you just read. A better way to learn and understand the guidelines we just breezed through is to look at some real examples--pictures I took (except one) and examine them in detail. I chose to examine several scenarios--posed wedding photographs using controlled lighting, photos done using only a single mounted external flash, and street photography done without the use of any artificial lighting.
Some of the examples have complex controlled lighting setups. Don't worry if you don't understand them; it's still beneficial to understand the composition and the results of the setups.
For this shot I set up two external flashes, each about 8 feet from the subject, elevated to about 6 feet. The flashes (550EX's) were mounted on flash stands and fired into 60' white umbrellas, using the reflected diffuse light to illuminate the subjects. Key technical things to notice, the shadows are extremely diffuse. This is most evident in the white dress, where shadows are soft and gentle. Notice the symmetry created by the background and how that symmetry is broken by key elements such as the flow of the bride's veil and the positioning of the flower girl. Notice that subject the relationship of the flower girl and the bride, the subliminal lead-in of the veil that causes our eyes to zigzag across the photo the bride's head, to bouquet, to her hand, to the flower girl. Notice how all colors are pastel and contrast is low. Notice the background almost entirely consists of sharp straight lines and angles, but the subjects of this image form smooth curves. Also notice that the bride is not looking at us but at the flower girl and vise versa. This reinforces the relationship. |
This was a posed shot taken on location. Two flashes (550EX's) mounted on flash stands fired into 60' white umbrellas to create diffuse light. It is a very bright and sunny day, so the shot was taken in the shade. One flash setup was set up so that the directed light came from the same general direction as sunlight to give the illusion of natural light. The other flash was placed roughly at a 30 degree angle from me to the subjects. Primary flash was set up roughly 8 feet away, the other (fill-flash) about 10 feet, each set up roughly 6' up. Key things: The softness of shadows, almost non-existent. Greatly reduced, almost non-existent skin blemishes due to controlled light. Notice the background elements are all of consistent warm, complementary hues. Notice the use of curves. Notice how both the bride and groom are angled and angled consistently. Notice the angle is consistent with the pattern formed by the tiles on the floor. Photo was taken at 70mm to flatten perspective. |
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Bride Preparing for the Cermony (photographed by Carrie) Canon EOS D60 Carrie took this picture while the maid of honor was helping the bride. It's a simple shot using natural lighting only through an open doorway. The light is extremely well done. It is strong enough and angled just right such that blemishes are not visible. The light itself illuminates the face of the bride such that you are drawn to it immediately. The angle she is facing is such that she appears thinner, more attractive. The shadows are diffuse and smooth and draw the contours of her face in a very complementary fashion. The effective use of color is also noteworthy--the image is almost monochromatic except for the bride herself and some background elements. Again notice the color consistency. Notice the precise control of sharpness, the sharpest points being her facial features, in particular the eyes and the lips. Also notice that the background has been thrown out of focus through the use of a wide aperture to not only add a sense of depth, but also reinforces the fact the bride is the subject of the photograph because she is in focus. This was not a posed shot; this was one of several frames Carrie took while she looked on as the maid of honor was chatting and helping the bride. |
Carrie And Flowers Canon EOS 3 A simple photo of Carrie in the shade several large trees beside a bed of flowers. Notice the consistency of color tones (greens, beiges, yellows, browns). Again depth-of-field is narrowed to blur the background, rendering the subjects (Carrie and the flowers) in focus. Carrie is a big fan of flowers so the goal was to point out that relationship. Being in the shade prevents harsh shadows. Fill flash was also used also used to soften whatever remain shadows remained. Photo was taken at approx. 150mm to flatten perspective and to narrow depth of field. |
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This photo was taken at my friends' wedding reception. The reception hall was lit mostly with tungsten lighting, which gave the scene an overall orange warm color cast. Flash was used to illuminate the couple, the white dress really shines from the slight reflectivity in its satin finish. In fact everything in the picture is of the same color consistency (warm, orange) except the bride and groom, which makes them even more prominent. The goal of the picture was to capture the first dance. The bride and groom are the primary subjects; however various picture elements contribute to this theme. Notice the prominent size of the dance floor (achieved by crouching lower on the ground with the camera upward) relative to the image, empty of anything else but the couple. It can be inferred they are the only ones dancing. Notice the prominence of the ceiling (the dome part especially) and the chandelier. These suggest that the area below is the center of something. Also note the placement of the couple, toward the bottom corner of the image and how they gaze at each other. A wide angle was chosen to exaggerate perspective; to make the dance floor appear larger than it really was. The entire composition, to present the "First Dance" required capturing the couple while dancing, using the dance floor and surrounding empty space to imply they were the only ones dancing and the ceiling elements to indicate centrality, point of attention, and as an extra picture element to enhance the image. This was not posed; I had to crawl around the edges of the dance floor until I got the right angle and wait for a good pose to appear. |
This is another photo of Carrie on the beach, this time sitting on some rocks in full morning sunlight. The background is again blurred, but it can be deduced that it at the beach or along some rocks on the seashore. Fill flash was used to soften and fill in shadow areas cast by the sun; still shadows as you can see are quite strong. Note how Carrie is turned toward the sun but her face is turned away and her eyes are pointed at the camera. The shadows cross her face but only on half her face, note how on her face they "draw" certain features such as the definition of the cheeks and the nose. Photo was taken at 70mm to flatten perspective and narrow depth-of-field. |
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Sisters Minolta A2 This was photographed while I was doing some street photography in Chinatown in San Francisco. It is somewhat blurred because of all the movement (I was moving while taking this picture) but at the same time the blur gives a sense of motion or fluidity to the scene. Notice the colors, bright pinks in particular really catch they eye, from all the shopping bags of the people walking, to the big sister's clothes and her bags, to the little sister's jacket. The goal of this picture was not technical quality but to capture real life in a place many people regard as simply a tourist attraction. Picture was taken in the shadows of the large buildings all around, without flash or any artificial lighting. Photo was taken at about 50mm effective focal length. The presence of the arm isn't really welcome but the rest of the picture works, in particular the expressions of the two sisters. The point of the picture is their relationship, a snapshot of everyday life most people don't see. |
God Bless America Minolta A2 This photograph illustrates the juxapositioning of the street musician and the "God Bless America" sign that he appears next to. In this case prominent objects are the sign, the musician, and his open case and cart. (It should be noted that ironically he is in front of a bank) The subject of this images is the relationship of the man and the "God Bless America" sign. This images has may different interpretations, any of which are valid. This photograph was taken without flash or any other artificial lighting, simply taking this photo while walking around. Fortunately he was in the shade which made the photograph less contrasty. However technical considerations were secondary to trying to capturing an image that would stir critical thought. Photo was taken at 200mm effective focal length (I had to take this picture from across the street) |
Getting Started with Portraits
You don't need to spend a fortune to get started. If you have a camera you already can get started. Say you want to get some nicer results; well you can do that too without costing an arm and a leg.
Here's a list of things to get started with (besides your camera):
- Mid-Tele and/or Telephoto Lens - The best lenses for this kind of photography are long lenses. What's that? Well try to find a lens that has a focal length of at least 50mm--85mm or greater works best. For example I prefer to use my 70-200mm lens (whole range), but a lot of times I'll go with my standard 24-70mm lens (between 50-70mm). If you don't have that, you can still use a 50mm. Wide angle lenses (35mm or less) are not ideal but can be suitable for certain instances.
- External Flash - A good flash goes a long way. Get the best flash(es) you can afford. If you are on a tight budget you can still do a few things with your pop-up/built-in flash or even use natural light.
- Diffuser - This simple attachment diffuses light produce by your flash. Light produced by your flash unit is inherently directed and can create harsh shadows. There are many ways to diffuse light, the simplest is to get a diffuser attachment like the Stofen Omni-Bounce.
- Low Contrast Film - A lot of films today are saturated, very contrasty films. When you take pictures, the colors are more exaggerated, so red is really red, green is really green, etc. Film makers do that because vivid colors are more appealing and popular. This is great for taking pictures of landscapes, animals, etc but not really that great for people. That's because the exaggeration also exaggerates skin blemishes. Look for films that say they are "natural color." For digital cameras, turn off any settings that pump up saturation or contrast.
- Large Aperture Lens - Lenses with large apertures are really useful for this type of photography. A large aperture lens is a "fast" lens. At focal lengths below 200mm, that's usually F2.8 or below. These lenses can be very expensive--if it's not within your budget, you can usually compensate by having a telephoto lens. While not a necessity, having a large aperture lens really gives you a lot of versatility.
- Flash Bracket - Optionally you should consider getting a good flash bracket, along with whatever necessary components to use your shoe-mount flash with a flash bracket. The farther away from the lens you can get your flash, the better off you will be.
Get Equipped
My camera of choice--the Canon EOS 1D Mark II. |
Your Camera
You can use just about any camera you want, from point-and-shoot to really high end SLR digital cameras. There are a couple of features that you will want to take advantage of, and if your camera doesn't have it you might want to consider upgrading.
- Aperture Control / Large Aperture (fixed lens cameras)- a large aperture lens has many advantages. For our purposes here, the big benefit of a large aperture is the narrow depth-of-field (DOF). The larger the aperture and longer the focal length, the narrower it gets. We really want this because we want to create the background blur. A narrow DOF also allows us to control and decide what should be in focus and what shouldn't. Not just background; you can blur out distracting foreground elements too.
- Telephoto Capability (fixed lens cameras) - You really want to have a telephoto (100mm or greater) or at least a mid-tele (50mm to 100mm) lens. Often cameras will come with an equivalent of 35-70mm for 35mm format cameras. You can probably get away with using the long end of that. You'll find out why in a moment.
- External flash support/built-in flash - If you don't have a flash of any sort you are severely limited. A dedicated external flash is most preferable for a number of reasons, but if not the built-in flash will suffice--well actually it's just better than nothing.
An ideal camera would be of course an SLR.
My portrait lens of choice, |
Lenses
As mentioned a number of occasions, a telephoto lens (100mm or greater) is the way to go. Mid-teles (50-100mm) work very well also. Why do we want telephoto lenses?
- Narrow Depth-of-Field (DOF) - Focal length contributes to DOF; as your focal length and subject/focal plane distance increases, your DOF decreases.
- Perspective Compression - This goes back to the topic of correct/complementary subject proportionality. The longer the focal length, the more perspective correction you achieve. Two objects that are different distances from the focal plane will appear more similar in size the greater the focal length and the greater the subject/focal plane distance. In other words, it flattens perspective, such that it will make your subjects appear skinner and more proportionally balanced.
My favorite lens for portrait photography is the Canon EF 70-200mm 2.8 L. It has a huge aperture and a maximum zoom factor of 200mm. For portraits my preference is to use a zoom factor of 135mm, although I don't mind using 200mm either. One thing that is disadvantageous to using a telephoto lens is the large amount of distance often required. In many situations I didn't have the space so I went with my standard lens (24mm-70mm) and used the max zoom of 70mm. Perspective compression is great and depth-of-field (thanks to having a maximum f2.8 aperture) is excellent. Of course if you don't have a fast lens, you'll have to compromise somewhat.
There are a number of good prime lenses for portrait photography, such as the EF 135mm F2 L and the EF 85mm F1.8. I've found that the EF 50mm 1.4 is absolutely wonderful (with the 1.6 multiplication factor, on the D60 it is equivalent to an 85mm). Sorry I don't know much about other brands other than Contax.
A good flash--and knowing how to use |
Flash Unit
Good portrait photography really depends a lot on a good light. Ideally you want to be able to control all sources of light projected onto your subject, which you get when you have studio lighting. Most people don't have the space (or the money) for that, so the next-best thing is to get a good flash unit.
If you don't have the money for one, you can still use a built-in flash or use natural light, it will just be harder. A good flash unit has the following qualities:
- Tall or as far away from the lens as possible.
- The head can swivel or be tilted for bounce flashing.
Learning how to use a flash can be tough, and is really beyond the scope of this article. A good flash to look for is a dedicated flash, one that was built with your camera in mind and can communicate with it. Having such a flash takes a lot of gets rid of a lot of the manual metering and guesswork. I use the Canon 550EX, which has E-TTL (Enhanced Through-The-Lens) flash metering. You can do whatever you want, the flash and the camera work together to figure out how to get the right exposure/flash power.
Ideally you want to have your light source away from your camera. Think about it--in real life how often does light just happen to be directly pointed at what your looking at? If you can afford it, get an off-the-shoe cord and have your flash sit on a stand or on a flash bracket, away from your lens--the farther the better.
. You can avoid this problem by moving your flash, diffusing your flash or bounce flashing it. You can also fix alleviate this problem easily by simply shooting someone's face at an angle rather than straight on. "Red Eye Reduction" in cameras don't always work; they simply fire one or more pre-flashes to cause your subject's pupils to close, thus theoretically stop red eye. This technique doesn't always work, and I actually dislike it because your subjects will sometimes (well actually many times) blink at the pre-flash, so when the real flash fires a moment later and the image is taken, your subject's eyes are closed.
I went and got a flash stand and a remoter kit (for Canon you can get two 550EX's, one on the stand (slave) and one on the hotshoe (master) or an ST-E2 wireless flash trigger). Using this combination, I can put and direct my light source any which way I want and trigger it remotely. If I were to have my flash on my camera, the light source would always be me (since I'm holding the camera), so where I go and what I do has a big impact on the light I get.
If you've got some money you can get a flash bracket and the necessary off-the-shoe accessories. Also notice the diffuser on the flash head. Red eye nightmares no more! |
Earlier we mentioned a diffuser. A diffuser is simply an attachment, usually plastic, which you put on top of the flash head. It's used to soften light and make shadows softer, more pleasing. Ideally you want your light source to be as big as possible, for example bouncing your flash into or through an umbrella. But most of the time you can't, so using one of these very simple gadgets can be very helpful.
You can buy one (like I did) or you can make one ad hoc using all sorts of stuff, like white napkins. The key is to find something that softens and diffuses the flash and is not opaque enough to block the light too much. If you do it ad hoc, it takes a bit of trial-and-error to get it right, and it probably won't be as good as a diffuser you buy. Not the best way to do things, but it's cheap and does work as a quick-fix solution.
Film Selection
The film you pick has a lot to do with the results you will achieve. The same can be said if you are using a digital camera, whereas the settings you choose are what make the difference. First let's look at traditional film.
There is a wide selection of films available, so which to choose? Here are some good film attributes to look for:
Look for films that are low in contrast and saturation. Most films today are "vivid" films in that they are high contrast and saturation. People like these films because they exaggerate color and make the image colors have more punch. This is all fine and well when you are taking pictures of landscapes, animals or objects. But it can be really harsh on skin tones. Imagine a small blemish on your subject. If use a low contrast film, the overall difference in hue between normal skin and the blemish are reduced. If you use high contrast film, it is exaggerated. Look for these films, they are often marked as "natural color" or "accurate color" films.
That said, look for higher ISO (ISO 400/800) films.This is a bit more subjective. Higher ISO films have the obvious weakness of having greater grain and consequently less resolving power. But in a way this is advantageous because you don't necessarily need to be tact sharp to get a great portrait photograph. In addition, higher ISO films tend to be lower in contrast. Today's ISO 400 films are equal to ISO 100 films of a decade ago in grain size, and you will require only 1/2 the light necessary to create a latent image as compared to ISO 100.
Print film. Print films tend to be lower in contrast and saturation as compared to their slide film counterparts. If you still want to go with slide film, again look for low contrast/saturation films.
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So what are some good films? Here's a few that I like to use:
Fuji Superia ISO 400/800 - Really nice films with remarkably low grain considering the ISO rating. I haven't found a Kodak counterpart that matches in quality. The best thing of all is they are cheap and easy to find.
Kodak Portra NC 160 - Professional print film by Kodak. "NC" stands for "Natural Color"; there is also a "Vivid Color" or "VC" version also. This film is a popular wedding film because of its very low contrast and saturation and very large dynamic range; it is able to capture detail in both a black tuxedo and a white wedding gown simultaneously. Light skin appears almost white and blemishes seem to melt away. This is an interesting film to try out; you shouldn't take it to your everyday one-hour photo lab to process however, you should consider taking it to a professional photo lab that knows how to process this film. My results (from taking it to the cheapo one-hour photo lab) have been too light--ghost-like, unrealistic white skin color.
Kodak Portra 800 - A new professional print film developed by Kodak. Higher contrast and saturation than Portra NC 160 but with very nice, warm skin tone colors.
Fuji NPS 160 - Fuji's answer to Kodak Porta. Low contrast, fine-grain film with attributes comparable to Portra NC 160.
Fuji Astia 100 (RAP) - This is a professional slide film by Fuji that is designed for color accuracy, low contrast and saturation. I've used this film extensively and it produces excellent results. That said, it still has more contrast than print film, but is less grainy and has higher resolving power. It can be pushed to ISO 400 if necessary. Fuji also produces a consumer version of this film called Sensia, and I've found it to be quite satisfactory as well.
Digital Camera Settings
Knowing all this, it's pretty easy to apply the same principles to digital cameras.
Digital cameras have much higher dynamic range, color accuracy and are lower contrast/saturation in general as compared to film. But again it is popular to have images that have "pop", so manufacturers sometimes have settings that will heighten contrast and saturation. This is particularly true with consumer-level cameras.
With digital cameras it's actually quite a lot simpler--just turn off any extra contrast and saturation and have the camera take pictures at normal settings.
Unlike with film, the ISO principle does not really apply to digital cameras, since ISO represents light sensor sensitivity rather than grain size as with film. Increasing ISO does not decrease contrast or saturation. Instead, just go with whatever ISO works best for the situation.
Portrait Photography Techniques
The most important thing to remember--portrait photography is not just about photographing your subject, it is also about getting to know them. If you don't know your subject then you aren't going to get good pictures. Taking good portrait photographs means knowing what that person is about and understanding how to best capture their essence on film. Portrait photographers are good at getting to know people.
If you can get past hurdle, you can really start thinking about the technical aspects of taking photos. Here's some general techniques you can follow:
- Choose a focal length - Portrait photographs in general are best done with tele/mid-tele lenses set mid-range to maximum zoom factor. My preference is to use focal lengths from 90mm up to 200mm. I also use 50mm and 70mm frequently (on the D60 this is effectively 85mm and 120mm respectively). The reasons of course are to flatten perspective and to minimize depth of field to create background blur.
- Stand back - A common mistake is to stay too close to the subject. Several bad things result from this. First of all in order to get everything you want in the image area, you will have to use a short focal length (wide angle), which causes perspective exaggeration. Wide angles also cause your depth-of-field to expand, so your background will most likely be sharp and thus distracting. Being to close often means your flash will be too strong and may cause both harsh lighting and overexposure. All these things can be alleviated by simply standing back. Standing back also give your subject more space and is often a good way to lessen tension. My preference is to stand at least 10 feet back. Where I stand is dictated by the range of the flash and how shallow I want the depth-of-field.
- Use large apertures - In combination with a long focal distance and large zoom factor, you should be able to achieve a very narrow DOF. The one thing you do have to be weary of is achieving a shutter speed that is higher than your flash's synch speed. In this case, either you will have to have to stop down, apply a neutral density filter or use lower ISO film to get that sync speed. If you have a Canon Speedlite, you can use high-speed sync instead (I don't know about other brands). There are a couple of caveats that go along with using the high speed sync, such as reduced range and inability to freeze motion. Be careful not to narrow your DOF too much. Your goal should be to narrow the DOF to a point that your background is thrown out of focus but your primary subjects remain sharp. If you narrow it too much you may wind up having only parts of your subject in focus.
- If you don't know, use your flash - There are very few times that a flash won't help you. Light is measured in stops, which is geometric in scale. In other words, a one stop difference in light means that one area is twice as bright as the other. Two stops means it is four times more bright, and so on. So when a flash is used, it will affect shadow regions a lot, bright regions very little.
- Examine your shadows closely - Compose with shadows in mind. For many of us we don't really put much consideration into shadows if at all. Shadows are an elemental part of composition and good management can be very significant.
- Examine your background carefully - A common mistake is to only scrutinize the subject. Remember that an image is a 2-dimensional representation of 3-dimensional space, so whatever is in the background can have a serious impact on your image; if someone's hand is sticking out behind your subject any you take that picture, that hand will appear to be coming out from your subject--and it will look weird. Manage your depth-of-field to throw the background out of focus; be sure you don't narrow it so much that your subject is also partially blurred.
- Less is more - The biggest mistake people make is to try to include too much. It always seems to come about because people don't think about zooming in because wide angles can capture so much and are often the default zoom factor. What you wind up with often is a picture where there is contention for focus by several elements in the image. The answer is simple--zoom in. You don't need to capture the whole person and whole scene. Sometimes you don't even need their whole head or face in the image. Think about what you are trying to capture and what is the focus of your image. Think about what you are trying to say and reduce it down to them minimum number of visual elements necessary to express that idea. Anything extra that does not contribute to that idea is just a distraction.
- Take multiple shots - You never know if you've made a mistake of some sort. You never know what might happen. Especially using flash, people will blink. People always make the mistake of taking just one shot. For many applications this is probably true, but if you're taking important or serious portraits, you should always take multiple shots. Film is cheaper than lost opportunity, and if you are taking digital pictures they'res absolutely no reason not to take a few extra frames.
Going Black and White
Black-and-white photography never seems to go out of style, even with color films and now digital imaging it's as popular as ever. Black-and-white photography seems to be enjoying something of a renaissance, especially in wedding photography. It has an nostalgic aura, a more artistic look. Or maybe because color has so dominated photography that black and white is viewed as non-mainstream. Whatever the case, black and white photography is certainly back.
Black-and-white photography is excellent for portrait photography. The lack of color has several benefits:
- Emphasis on form and structure
- Blemishes disappear with proper filtering
- Greater tonality, smoother tone transition
- Very high sharpness
- People general look better!
Black-and-white photography is quite different from standard color photography. First thing you have to do is learn to ignore color and study form. It also takes time understanding what colors are the same tones. There are many good resources about black and white photography you can find; and of course introductory photography classes often start with black-and-white.
One interesting thing is to see how black-and-white compares with color. It's not as "black and white" as it seems; there are a variety of filters that affect black-and-white images. So not all black-and-white images are created equal. Let's take a quick look:
Original Image |
Yellow Filter |
Orange Filter |
Red Filter |
Green Filter |
Blue Filter |
The differences are quite subtle sometimes. Look at various features, such as lines, blemishes and skin color. Look at lip and hair color. My own preference is the red filter version, most if not all facial blemishes vanish, complexion is very light and smooth.
Black-and-white definitely is an option to think about when doing portrait photography. It is not a cure all, but it can be effective in many cases.
Even if you do it in color, consider using Photoshop to create black-and-white versions; you might be pleasantly surprised.
In Conclusion
There is definitely a lot to portrait photography, more so than was described in this very simplified premier. A portrait photography like any other discipline requires preparation and motivation. To get good at it you need to be willing to practice. The neat thing about portrait photography is that it forces you to know your subject well, and you get only do that by getting to know them better. It never hurts to get to know more people or to get to know your friends or family better.
Links and Resources
Books
General Portrait Photography
- The Portrait Book (Steven H. Begleiter)
- Portraits Camera Craft (William Cheung)
Wedding Photography
- The Best of Wedding Photography (Bill Hurter)
- The Art of Wedding Photography: Professional Techniques with Style (Bambi Cantrell)
- Wedding Photography (Rick Ferro)
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